


I'll be right beside you

by Abandoned Melodies (magicpiano)



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Character Turned Into a Ghost, M/M, Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:07:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25589587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicpiano/pseuds/Abandoned%20Melodies
Summary: Some people say the ghost of Spencer Reid haunts the BAU.This is an abandoned work!
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	I'll be right beside you

**Author's Note:**

> This story is unfinished and probably never will be. I have stopped working on this project and it is very unlikely I will start working on it again. This also does not have the level of spelling and grammar quality used in my finished stories. Please read this story with that in mind. Thank you.
> 
> Click [here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicpiano/) for my finished/alive wips pseudo.
> 
> Warnings:  
> Death (murder and suicide)

_“Even if you cannot hear my voice, I'll be right beside you dear.” Run by Snow Patrol_

When Gideon returned from a lecture in Nevada with a smile on his face raving about this student that he met, Hotch didn't think much of it. Recrutements rarely worked out.

When the kid actually made it into the academy, he started to take notice, he began to pay attention to what Gideon said about Spencer Reid.

When the kid died, murdered in a back alley by jealous classmates, he mourned what could have been a great agent. Gideon mourned the person he had come to think of as a son.

When the rumor that their floor was haunted started, he made a point of ringing out the agents who dared make fun of the dead, especially when the dead had almost been one of them. Gideon was surprisingly quiet about the whole thing.

When Gideon committed suicide in his lakeside cabin a year later, Hotch can't help but think he should have seen it coming. He didn't know what he would do if he lost Jack, but he knew it would probably be classified as self destructive. He missed Jason, they were always good friends, but he knew the team needed him to be strong. So he kept a stoic face, acted as a shoulder to cry on and learned to move on.

* * *

Stratuss had sent him an email telling him it was official, David Rossi was coming back to the BAU. Hotch wasn't very surprised by this, Dave had talked about wanting to come back for a couple years now. Jason's death only accelerated the process.

It took him two days to move all of his things into Jason's old office and clear out his office for Rossi. As close as Hotch and Jason were, Dave was even closer, they had started the BAU together after all. Hotch didn't have it in him to ask Dave to use his death best friend's office, even though he knew Dave wouldn't complain.

Luckily no one on the team brought up his behavior. Even though they all probably knew why he was changing offices none of them commented on it. He really hoped Dave would be too distracted to notice the switch, he didn't want any more attention brought upon him, but he really doubted it. The older profiler was nothing if not good at what he did.

Hotch saw Dave coming in with Stratuss in tow through the blinds in his office window. He hadn't seen Dave since Jason's funeral and professionalism be damned it was good to see the man again. He opened up his arms to Dave and got a one armed hug in return.

“You look well Aaron.” Dave had a smile on his face and an asserting look in his eye. He knew Dave was looking for any signs that he wasn't doing well. Jason's death hit them all hard.

“I am fine, Dave,” Hotch attempted to pacify. “Better now that you're here to join the team.”

“Well then,” Startuss said, interrupting their reunion, clearly annoyed with being ignored, “I expect the last of the paperwork to be emailed to me by the end of the day. And if there are any problems I want to hear about them immediately, am I understood?” she looked directly at Hotch in that unwavering way she used when she wanted to seem threatening. 

“Of course,” Hotch replied before turning back to Dave, “Let me show you to my office.”

Strattus turned and left, so he began guiding Dave up the stairs towards their offices. He could see Morgan and Prentiss watching them while poorly pretending to be working. He ignored them though, they could get to know their new teammate later. 

They walked into Gideon’s old office, now reformed to be Hotch’s and Hotch closed the door behind them.

“Would you like some coffee?” Hotch asked.

“Is it any better than when I used to work here?” Rossi asked back.

Hotch couldn't help but smile at the friendly banter, it had been awhile since the office held any kind of light attitude. “Not at all.”

Rossi gave a gentle snort. “I think I’ll pass then.”

“Then let's just get this paperwork over with then.” Hotch setted himself down behind his desk and waited for Rossi to do the same. “There are only a few things you need to look over.”

Rossi picked up the forms that Hotch passed to him and skimmed through them. He turned back to Hotch with a raised eyebrow and a questioning look.

“They are just afraid you won't be able to take orders from me because I used to work under you.” Hotch explained, “They just want you to sign off that you know who your boss is.”

Dave laughed while he signed his name. “You mean Strattus is afraid she won't be able to control me? She's right, she won't be able to.”

“Don't worry, I don't envision there to be any problems.” Hotch said. The two of them had always worked well together before. 

While Dave signed the forms Hotch thought it seemed like a good time to make some friendly chatter.

“I heard your new book is set to come out soon,” Hotch said, “Why not publish it before-”

The sound of the door opening caught Hotch’s attention. No one on the team ever entered his office without knocking unless it was an emergency. No one was rushing in though so he doubted it was an emergency. 

Hotch got up and opened the door all the way. There was no one there. He poked his head out and looked to the left and right, but he didn't see anyone in the walls either. He only was Morgan and Prentiss at their desks, neither seemed to have noticed anything amiss.

“Aaron?”

Hotch turned back to dave and closed the door behind him. “Sorry, I must not have closed it all the way,” he said even though he was quite sure that he had. 

Hotch moved back to his desk and took a seat, “you were saying?”

“You were asking about my book?”

“Right,” Hotch said his mind back on their conversation, “Why have your book come out after you return to work here rather than before?”

Their conversation was pleasant, Rossi was the kind of person who was happy to talk about his own book and Hotch was in the mood to listen to his old friend. Despite this, Hotch felt uneasy the whole time. 

Oddly enough he felt like someone was listening in.

* * *

As it turned out, working with Rossi again was going to be problematic. Not because he was bad at his job, but because the entire concept of teamwork eluded him.

Hotch had given Rossi a talking to, and to his credit Rossi was clearly trying to be better, but he had already made a bad impression on Moran, Prentiss and JJ. Hotch wished, not for the first time, that there was a buffer. Someone who could help calm his teammates and help bring them together. He knew everyone was in poor spirits because of Gideon. His death left a mark on them all. Morgan was often angry and JJ often sad. Hotch could see his team beginning to fall apart and he had no idea how to fix it. Hopefully when they got around to actually liking Rossi they could begin to move forward. As it stands, Hotch is unsure if the required grief therapy all of his team members are receiving is actually helping. 

The only person on the team who seems to be getting along with Rossi, besides himself, was Garcia. She was probably too kind hearted for her own good. It seemed her way of mourning was being exceedingly nice to everyone she encounters, especially Gideon’s old friend. And Rossi, who was always a flirt and a chairmer, took to her quite well, much to Morgan's annoyance.

And Rossi wasn't the only thing that was making Hotch’s work life difficult.

He knew it would take time to get used to his new office, but the switch seemed to have affected more than he thought. He keeps misplacing things, files he thought he left on his desk appearing on his couch or books on his shelf being reorganized. It got to the point where he started locking his office door every time he left the room, even though he knew no one on his team would break into his office, especially to do something as silly as move a pen an inch to the left.

Oddly enough, the new office was significantly colder than his old one. It made him wonder how Jason managed to get any work done in here. He had taken up the habit of bringing a sweater into the office with him everyday.

That didn't even include the mysterious uneasy feeling he sometimes got when sitting in his office. He knew his mind was playing tricks on him, he felt nervous because this room reminded him of a dead man. Knowing this didn't stop the unease though.

But there was work to be done because the killers never stopped, so he continued to work in his cold creepy office despite the feeling of being watched.

* * *

Hotch was organizing his team's statements on a previous case, getting the file ready to be sent to the prosecutor when he noticed something missing.

Hotch left his office and walked into the hall. He leaned against the railing and looked down into the bullpen down below. It looked like Morgan was packing up to leave for the day, and everyone else was already gone. Hotch was lucky to catch Morgan before he left.

“Morgan,” Hotch said, causing the man to look up at him. “Where's your statement from the last case?”

“I thought I gave it to you already?” Morgan asked.

“I don't have it, I must have misplaced it somewhere,” Hotch said. He was misplacing a lot of things lately it seemed.

“I will go print another copy.” Morgan said.

Morgan was all packed already and he was the type to have real plans on a Friday night. Unlike Hotch who was going to be here another hour at least.

“Don't bother,” Hotch said, “I was the one who lost it, I'll handle it. Have a nice night Mogan.”

Hotch went back to his office and picked up his flash drive with the files to be printed. He was sure to lock his office door on the way out.

When he got to the printer in the bullpen he noticed it was all out of ink. This forced him to walk across the hall to where some of the other BAU team's offices were. 

When he got there almost all the lights were off, except for one lamp on one desk. A young man was sitting at the desk reading over a file and making notes as he went.

The man looked up at Hotch when he entered, but otherwise made no move to acknowledge his existence. Hotch didn't recognise this man which was a little weird considering they seemed to work across the hall from each other. But the man looked extremely young to be working here, he was probably new.

The printer was right next to the young man's desk so hotch made his way over there. The printer had already been turned off for the night, so Hotch would have to wait a few minutes for it to turn on. Now that he was in the light, Hotch could see the man much more clearly.

He was even younger than Hotch had originally thought, nineteen, maybe early twenties. He had light brown hair that framed his face in gentle curls. He was wearing a light purple dress shirt and tie with a brown sweater vest and khaki pants. His entire outfit seemed at odds with his age, he dressed like a college professor, but looked more like a student.

The man was openly staring at Hotch, not even attempting to pretend he was working. Hotch had been in plenty of stare downs before, mainly with unsubs, so being stared at didn't bother him but it was rather awkward. Rather than let the silence sit he decided to be friendly. He was quite interested in what someone so young was doing here this late anyways.

“Do you often work this late?” Hotch asked.

The man seemed startled at being spoken to. This struck Hotch as strange because the way the man was staring at Hotch seemed to be as much of an invitation for conversation as any.

The man got out of his chair and quickly turned looking around him, seemingly searching for something. When he turned back to Hotch he spoke in a quiet, slightly awed voice. “Are you talking to me?”

Hotch felt a frown come over his face. This was an odd reaction to a casual greeting, but he figured the man was just very new or shy. “There's no one else here, unless I am mistaken?”

“No,” the man said. Hotch could still hear the surprise in his voice but it was quickly giving way to curiosity judging by the way his eyes began to light up. “You're the first person I have seen in hours.”

Hotch gave an affirming hum and turned back to the printer. He put in the flashdrive and began printing the sheets he needed. Now that they had begun speaking the man seemed to radiate excitement and the desire to talk to more. Hotch decided to indulge him.

“You're not Agent Anderson,” Hotch said pointing to the nameplate on the desk.

“Oh, no I'm not,” The man said looking down at the nameplate in question, “I am just borrowing his desk for a little bit. I don't think he will mind.” 

The man looked back up to Hotch and their eyes met. “I’m spencer.” He gave a small shy wave which was a bit of an odd thing to do when they were close enough to touch. The action left Hotch wondering if it was more polite to wave back or do nothing.

After a moment of deliberation Hotch just introduced himself.

“To answer your earlier question,” Spencer said, “I am here all the time really, morning and night.”

Hotch assumed this to be a bit of humor at both of their apparent workaholic natures. Hotch gave a small laugh and answered. “I know what you mean, sometimes it feels like I never leave.”

Spencer frowned at this and Hotch wondered if he had somehow offended the other man, but his face quickly went back to a neutral expression.

“Did you know the fastest printer in the world can print 150 pages in a minute?” Spencer asked.

The sudden change of subject caused Hotch to turn around and stare at the young man in front of him. Hotch didn't quite know what to say, so he figured he should just go along with whatever Spencer said.

“No, I didn't know that.” Hotch answered. This caused Spencer to smile and continue talking about printers. Hotch got the feeling he was rather lonely and desperate for someone to talk to about anything.

“... it's really impressive when you think about it. Most modern printers can only print about 15 pages per minute, but-”

The printer made a beeping sound to let hotch know it was finished. He turned around to collect his pages. “You were saying?” Hotch asked, turning back around to face spencer.

But Spencer wasn't there. The light on Anderson's desk was still shining and all of Spencer's papers were still scattered exactly where they had been a moment prior. But the man himself seemed to have vanished in the moment hotch had turned toward the printer.

“Spencer?” Hotch asked.

He was greeted by the sound of the air conditioning blowing gently but nothing else. Hotch did a quick walk around the bullpen but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Spencer had simply run away somewhere. Hotch wasn't sure what he could have done to make Spencer want to leave so suddenly, but there was nothing to do about.

He went back to his office determined to finish as soon as possible so he could get back home to his family. 

Hotch put the odd encounter to the back of his mind. 

He had work to finish.

* * *

Monday found Hotch walking up to Morgan and handing him back the preliminary profile he had written for a Texas police department.

“You forgot to sign off on this before emailing it to me.” Hotch said.

Morgan looked up at him curiously grabbing the papers and glancing over them. Hotch watched his face turn into a frown, then Morgan looked back up to him with confusion.

“I sent this to you?” Morgan asked.

“Yes, sometime Saturday night.” Hotch answered.

“Huh,” Morgan said looking back over the papers. “I didn't think I was drunk enough Saturday to write a profile and then forget about it.”

“Is that how you're spending your Saturdays now? Getting drunk and reading about murder?” Prentiss teased from her desk.

“Did you not write this?” Hotch asked. If Morgan's email had somehow been hacked that was a huge security risk. But he couldn't understand why someone would hack an email just to do someone else's work for them.

“I don't recall writing this but I could have a guess,” Morgan said, “I agree with everything in this profile. It sounds right, I just don't remember working on this.”

That was extremely odd. Hotch made a mental note to talk to Garcia and find out if Morgan's email was still secure.

It was then that JJ walked in with a grim look on her face.

“We have a case.” She said.

And just like that they had other things to worry about.

* * *

Hotch came in one morning to find Rossi arguing with a maintenance worker outside his office. He desperately wanted to avoid getting involved, but as Rossi's supervisor he knew he should.

“Is something the matter?” Hotch asked as he approached the two men.

The maintenance worker whose name tag identified him as Shawn answered before Rossi had the chance to, an act which likely infuriated Rossi even more.

“I was just explaining to Agent Rossi that there is nothing wrong with his door.”

“If there is nothing wrong with my door then why does it keep opening and closing on its own?” Rossi turned to Hotch and gave him an exasperated look, it was clear he expected hotch to take his side in this debate.

“Perhaps you aren't closing it all the way?” Shawn asked, “Or maybe something is getting caught in the door?”

“If the answer was that simple I wouldn't have called maintenance.” Rossi said impatiently, “The door is broken.”

Shawn opened his mouth to speak again, but Hotch caught him off before he had the chance. “Thank you Shawn, I will handle it from here.”

Shawn seemed quite happy at being given an escape from his argument with Rossi and booked it out of the BAU offices. Rossi looked displeased.

“My door is broken Aaron.”

“Shawn, the professional, disagreed,” Hotch replied, “if you are that sure something is wrong then call someone else and get a second opinion. Arguing with the poor man wasn't going to get either of you anywhere.”

Rossi still seemed unhappy, but he seemed to pick up the wisdom of Hotch’s words and conceded. “I will call and see if they can send someone else.”

In the end, three different maintenance workers and Morgan all concluded there was nothing wrong with Rossi’s door. Rossi still insisted it was broken, but he stopped having people come check it out.

It was strange, but it seemed Garcia, JJ and Hotch had all been having the same problem for a while, but none of them mentioned it before Rossi brought it up.

Hotch heard some people in the halls gossiping that it was the ghost of Spencer Reid entering and exiting a room. 

When he heard this, he scolded them and sent them back to work.

**Author's Note:**

> Like I said, I am very unlikely to finish this story, anything is possible, but please don’t expect it. 
> 
> Click [here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicpiano/) for my finished/alive wips pseudo.
> 
> If you want to know more about what I had planned for this story, feel free to ask.
> 
> [here](https://feliswhiteflag.tumblr.com/) is my blog! And [here](https://lesbianjolllly.tumblr.com/) is my Les Mis side blog!


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